Peristalsis
//ˌpɛɹɪˈstælsɪs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The rhythmic, wave-like contraction and relaxation of muscles so as to propagate motion, as of food in the digestive tract. countable, uncountable
- 2 the process of wavelike muscle contractions of the alimentary tract that moves food along wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsEtymology
From Ancient Greek δύναμις περισταλτική (dúnamis peristaltikḗ, “the action of the bowels by which their contents are propelled”), from περιστέλλω (peristéllō, “to wrap around”), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + στέλλω (stéllō, “to make ready, to prepare”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.